Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Sangakkara joins elite club of batsmen with 10,000 runs in Tests

Kumar Sangakkara has become the 11th cricketer and the second Sri Lankan batsman after Mahela Jayawardene to reach the 10,000-run mark.Test cricket in Melbourne on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old, who needed just 40 runs to reach the landmark before the start of the Test, brought up the milestone with a beautiful cover drive boundary off Mitchell Johnson and got a standing ovation from a bumper crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Sangakkara stood out for the tourists with his polished 58 dwarfing the contributions of his teammates in a woeful below-par first innings of 156 off just 43.4 overs after winning the toss in the Boxing Day Test.

Sangakkara's 195-minute knock was brought to an end with a stunning running catch by wicketkeeper Matthew Wade at eight wickets down.

In the process Sangakkara was the equal-fastest to the 10,000 milestone, reaching it in his 195th Test innings, the same as Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara.

Sangakkara unfurled a glorious cover drive boundary off Johnson in the final over before lunch to bring up the milestone in his 115th Test match.

But the elegant left-hander was out to a magnificent running catch behind the wicket by wicketkeeper Wade, who scampered 30 metres before flinging himself to take a diving catch and deliver Johnson his 200th wicket in his 49th Test.

Sangakkara is level on top with Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar on the list of batsmen to reach the mark in the fewest innings. Sanga crossed the mark in 115 matches, four more than Lara, who did so in 111 matches.

He also has the second-best average (55.96) among cricketers to cross the landmark, only behind South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who averages 56.92.

Voted Cricketer of the Year by the International Cricket Council in September, he has hit 30 centuries during his Test career.

Interestingly, Sangakkara had in February this year also become the tenth man to enter the elite club of men with 10,000 runs in ODI cricket when he reached the personal score of 11 against Australia at Adelaide.